Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A "Manly Man" Lunch Box

I'm not the only one going off to work nowadays. Daddy Shmoo has quit his at-home job and is working in an office now, heading out each day with a paper bag lunch tucked under his arm.

I wanted to celebrate his new job by getting him his very own Men's Lunch Box from JBOX in Japan. I wanted something bigger and not as cutesy as the Laptop Lunch System, something made for a Hearty Man but still bento-stylish. This looked perfect.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "Didn't you read the dimensions, dipnoodle?" Well, I've always been spatially challenged, and with a description like "...perfect for big eaters! This is a large-sized bento box...this will hold a good portion of food..." I figured this would be plenty big.

But look at it! It's much smaller than I had imagined. In fact, it's so small you can almost fit it inside the Laptop Lunch Box. No wonder Americans are getting bigger by the day; apparently even our children are eating more than a full-grown adult in Japan!

Wow, what a disappointment. But still, I love the color, the built-in chopsticks holder and chopsticks, and the fact that it's basically one large container (with removable divider) so you can eat a big serving of one dish instead of coming up with four smaller servings of different foods.

I wonder if it really will hold enough food for a hungry adult office worker. Later this week or next I'll pack it up for my husband and report back with a verdict. Stay tuned...

P.S. My husband just pointed out that the label "Stylish Metallic Color For Men" on the lid is not removable and is, in his words, "pretty embarrassing".

14 comments:

that's exactly why I don't get along with the laptop lunchbox. I eat a lot for a girl by Western standards, but could never ever finish a whole LLB for lunch! I'm fine with women-sized Japanese bento boxes.

have you considered adding some of the big LLB containers (with the lid) as a sidecar to your hubby's bento?

I laughed when I saw my first one! I measured it out before my friend bought it for me and everything! (measured in the wrong unit) and absoloutely was boggled that ANYbody could get full off of a lunch that could fit into the palm of there hands! Definately some serious portion control!

However, I did find something interesting a while back. In Japan, well not only is there average weight a LOT lower than ours, but there system of eating is more exact as well, especially when it comes to bento boxes (I t hink they are becoming more westernized though)

They said for my bento (which is supposed to build a 700 cal lunch), a medium bit-of-nothing, that half the bento was supposed to be dedicated to a starch. And if I did do that, that already, over half of my meal would be a plentiful serving of rice, or around 500 calories. Yikes.

1/4 was to be for a vegetable or a fruit (as both could never fit in the box at one time) and the other 1/4 for a meat, or faux meat for our matter.

Didn't really work out for me. So I ditched the bento for months. Until yesterday.

*laughs* That is too cute that you got your hubby a bento! Of course, we could NEVER describe it as 'cute' around a man, right? My dad would have saw the label, and given the bento box itself away, maybe to one of his billion female co-workers or somethin'.

I think people eat varying proportions of their calorie allowance at lunch. I have coworkers who eat just a thin, regular-size sandwich. I'd absolutely expire before dinner if I ate that little for lunch, but I don't eat very large dinners or breakfasts.

I don't have any experience with non-compartmentalized bentos, but I really like the Zojirushi Mr. Bento (which is plain gray metallic, very okay for a Manly Man) and holds lots of food if filled up. One of the Amazon reviews says "I calculated the amount of food it could hold in ounces and it turns out to be about 5 cups or 41.6 ounces."

I'd also recommend the zojirushi bento. I use it myself, and it covers second breakfast, lunch, and usually snack (depending on how hungry I am).Another trick to the "there wasn't enough food" problem is going for caloric density. Minimizing carbs, maximizing fiber, protein, and fat.

i just stumbled upon this blog a few weeks ago and am LOVING reading it and getting fun food ideas. i'm verging on vegetarianism so all this info is great! i like the bento lunch box idea, but the LLB box seems a bit big for me. someone mentioned a "womans size" bento box and i was wondering where one might go to find one. thanks!